Owls – Go Birding

In search of the Shaman – Townsville and Outback Queensland trip – part 1

Posted on July 26, 2024 by CorwinCaelin

About six months ago Isaac Clarey reached out to see if I wanted to help drive his caravan back to Melbourne from Townsville after a family holiday. We would take about a week driving back looking for wildlife so of course I jumped at the chance. With a few value add days at the start of the trip around Townsville to chase some targets I was set for a good trip. In particular I had heard of a spiritual animal called the Shaman a couple of hours from Townsville that I was keen to visit and see if I was to be granted an audience. After a typical sleepless night due to stressing about an early flight I left Melbourne on a flight to Brisbane – fortunately I fell asleep on the plane and was woken by the jolt as the plane touched down. A four hour wait in Brisbane for a flight to Townsville did drag on but an Osprey on a sign was a good start. Finally I arrived in Townsville around 5pm and picked up a hire car and headed into town to my hotel. It was my first visit to Townsville since I was there as a kid in 1982 – I would like to say it hadn’t changed but I didn’t remember anything at all. I had a quick walk around the Strand before dark where Great Bowerbirds, Figbirds and Bush Stone-curlews showed me I wasn’t in Melbourne anymore. After a quick bite and check-in to my hotel I headed about 80 km north to meet Isaac at Jourama Falls where we would search for my first main target of the trip – the Mahogony Glider. This very range restricted species lives in a small 120km long strip of lowland rainforest north of Townsville in an area that has been heavily fragmented by land clearing for cane and other farming.

Green Tree Frog – Jourama Dunnies

Jourama Falls area was full of life if not our immediate target. In a couple of hours we saw frogs, pythons, spiders, nightjars, bandicoot and a birder playing Rufous Owl calls but no sign of Mahogany Glider. There was no flowering trees which is apparently a key sign to look for. On the way out we spotlit the entrance road and found a Giant White-tailed Rat which is an impressive animal about the size of a Ringtail possum back home.

Giant White-tailed Rat peekaboo

Legends Matt Wright and Tim Faulkner had given me a couple of other sites to try for the Mahogony Glider nearby so we headed there next despite it starting to get late. Walking down beside some cane we finally saw our first flowering eucalypt and boom! in it was a Mahogony Glider! I was a little surprised by this one as it looked like a pretty standard Squirrel Glider in colour and size. However being the only glider in range in this size we were high fiving and celebrated with a luke warm beer. Moving on we found two more which were much more impressive animals – larger and a lovely cinnamon type brownish colouring. One of them was clearly a big male, with scent gland on forehead and a huge fluffy tail – I would estimate it at 80% plus the size of a Yellow-bellied Glider back home. Interestingly all three were found in or next to flowering eucalypt species. I would recommend anyone searching for this species to do daytime recce for flowering trees. I was stoked – barely a few hours in and I already had one major target under the belt. I got back to my hotel in Townsville around 1am which was pretty good considering the success. I passed about 1000 suicidal Agile Wallabies without incident.

Mahogony Glider

Mahogony Glider – beautiful!!

I was up early the next morning and drove straight to a site Matt had pointed me to for Black-throated Finch – something of a bogey bird of mine and one of the few new birds I could target on this trip. While I had other sites up my sleeve this was right on the edge of town and would save me significant time if it paid off. Almost immediately on pulling up I had a group of finches fly over with an unfamiliar call which landed in long grass – I was pretty sure they were the target but there was a few anxious minutes til one showed itself so I could confirm – excellent – a Black-throated Finch which was a lifer. They eventually flew back over my head and landed in trees giving good binocular views and poor proof of life photos. It was quite a birdy area with some nice northern species to wet the appetite. Thanks Matt!

Black-throated Finch – proof of life

As Matt’s epic tip had saved me so much time I headed north and dropped into Tyto wetlands at Ingham. This is one of those legendary birding spots I had heard about for years so had to drop in for a quick visit. I ended up staying an hour picking up a very respectable 43 species. I would like to have stayed longer but I had a much more important appointment on my mind. In the distance beyond Ingham were mountains and in the rocky hills beyond that was the near mythical Shaman – to all who had met this beast, it was considered the most holy animal in Australia. I pointed the hire car in the right direction and set off – hopeful I would be granted an audience.

The Shaman is better known by its proper names – Sharman’s or Mount Claro Rock-wallaby and is an extremely range restricted member of the east coast Petrogale rock-wallaby tribe. It is completely restricted to the Seaview and Coane ranges west of Ingham an area of maybe 50*50km at best. After travelling an hour or so through cane I quickly ascended up a rather steep and precarious road to Mount Fox and then out to Mount Claro. The population at Mount Claro is on private property although easily viewed from the road. Immediately on pulling up I was able to glass a couple of animals on the mountain a couple of hundred meters away – hardly satisfying. There was a lot of cattle movement and I claim to all who will listen than I was charged by a wild scrub cow but in reality it was mooing and running in my general direction while I cowered behind a tree. A station-hand pulled up on a Can-am and I asked if I could go visit the rock-wallabies but said they would prefer if I didn’t as they were moving cattle at that time. It was suggested I might try some places back towards Mount Fox. I drove back up the road a few km and found another smaller rock outcrop close to the road and was able to see several rock-wallabies through the bins. I approached slowly getting some pretty good views but unfortunately put up a rock-wallaby from almost under my feet – after this they were pretty wary and watched me from a distance. It was a particularly spiritual place and I felt very at peace while visiting these animals. It was also less than 24 hours since I had landed in Townsville and my three main targets for the trip were in the bag – everything else from now on was gravy!

The Australian Sistine Chapel with Shaman holding court

I was pretty tired when I checked into my accommodation at Balgal Beach but after a swim, shower and a beer I headed up to Paluma for some spotlighting. On the way up I had a White-throated Nightjar and Spotted Python on the road which was nice but there was a huge amount of traffic travelling up a very windy narrow road at high speed. When I got up to the sleepy town of Paluma it was pumping – it turns out my visit coincided with their major massively sold out Mountain Bike cross country event. Every time I stopped to spotlight somewhere I had people either pulling over to see if I was ok or blaring their horns – it was quite frustrating. I did however manage to see a Greater Glider which depending on which taxonomy you follow would be of the Northern taxa which was new for me. It was a mangy, little thing compared to the GGs we get in Victoria but the bright eyeshine was the same. I had enough of people driving too fast so I headed back to my accommodation but did decide to stop a couple of spots on the way down. At one of the stops I found a couple of Broad-toed Feather-tailed Gliders and while I was trying to get a look of them I heard an anaemic trill nearby. Very experienced with Sooty Owls in Vic I knew immediately what it was and walking down the road I was able to get eyes on a lovely Lesser Sooty Owl. Like the GG this is another species in taxonomic dispute with it recently being lumped again with Greater Sooty Owl. Still what I was seeing was a smaller, more compact bird with much more subdued vocals to what I am used to. I ended up walking away from it and went back to bed and a beer – very satisfied with the days achievements.

Lesser Sooty Owl on the hunt

Cold shoulder

Today Owen Lishmund was arriving a bit after lunch and I was to pick him up from the airport. I spent the morning around Bowling Green National Park birding which was very pleasant – didn’t see anything special just good solid Northern Australian birds and a few herps. I picked Owen up and we headed straight out to Townsville Common – another legendary Australian birding site where we saw a few wetland species for the only time on the trip. Another great spot that needed more time than what we could give it. We then headed for a swim at Big Crystal Creek which was very pleasant before a good pub meal. That evening we spotlit again around Paluma which was much quieter with most of the MTB crew either exhausted or home. We started in large, mature flooded gum forest before stumbling onto a couple more Lesser Sooty Owls closer to Paluma. Compared to the bird the previous night these were much more vocally and physically similar to southern birds. It was quite a quiet night despite being very still with one Green Ringtail being the only other thing of note.

Lesser Sooty Owl

Litoria serrata

The next morning Owen and I went birding in the rainforest around Paluma while Isaac safely put his family on a plane back to Melbourne. As is typical the rainforest gave its secrets slowly but we saw and heard some really nice birds in our short time – I really need to come back here and spend a week. A particular highlight was a pair of Chowchilla foraging beside the track with the male feeding the female before erupting into a cacophony of territorial song – brilliant stuff. We had originally thought to head west immediately but decided to stay an extra night so Isaac and Owen could also experience the Shaman. We headed again out to Mount Fox arriving early afternoon again glassing animals easily on Mount Claro itself. There were far less cows around today with the cattle movement seemingly done but we again headed back to my previously successful spot. This time we walked in much more slowly and were rewarded with excellent views of the Shaman as he welcomed us in with his outstretched arms. We spent quite a bit of time just watching and appreciating them and again felt quite serene in their presence. Back on the road we celebrated with a beer in the presence of a couple of Pretty-faced wallabies – the only ones of the trip.

The Shaman – a very spiritual experience

We birded a bit on the way back to Ingham and after a KFC dirty bird feed we spotlit around Tyto wetlands. While we hoped for a Grass Owl as per the name of the place but had no luck – White-browed Crakes and Large-tailed Nightjars a good compromise. Owen had a spot for some large-scrotumed gecko-skink or something near where we were staying so we decided to try for that next. It was only a kilometre up a path and a couple of hundred meter scrub bash apparently which seemed well within my unfit capabilities. It turned out to be a pretty epic night of scrub bashing, climbing silly mountains and rock hopping down creeklines but needless to say we dipped on the target. Pretty sure I am not built to be a herper – but I would be very fit if I ever became one!. We only ended up travelling 5 km as the riflebird flies but it was a seriously tough endeavour. Poor Owen brushed against some vine that would continually flair up and remind him of his folly over the next week or so – we were definitely very sympatheic. Needless to say we dipped on the fucking gecko!

Oh fuck

This is snek

Stay tuned for part two where we hook up the caravan and head west to the promised land.

Amazing what you can cram into 2 days in Tassie

Posted on May 31, 2024 by CorwinCaelin

On the weekend just gone I was lucky enough to be invited to the wedding of good mate Peter Allen and his wonderful partner Andi down in Tasmania with a good group of other birder friends. When one is attending a wedding in one of the greatest wildlife areas in the country what is one to do aside from value add some wildlife experiences around the grand event? Lets see just how much I can cram into 2 days in Lutruwita. I arrived late afternoon into Hobart with Rohan and we picked up a car and checked into accommodation just past Sorrell before eating a decent Indian prawn curry. We decided to spotlight along Weilangta Forest Drive where I had good success last year with quolls and a Long-tailed mouse. Things got off to a good start with a Long-nosed Potoroo at the start of the drive but it got very quiet soon after with not even a pademelon to be seen.

Thermal Masked Owl

Eventually we got to the “site” where Isaac and I had found Long-tailed Mouse last year and we poked around there with thermal for 15-20 minutes until I detected a small mammal on the ground. It was very cryptic and while I strongly suspected from what we could see in thermal it was a Long-tailed Mouse we just couldn’t be sure which was frustrating as it would be a new mammal for Rohan. It seemed to be centered around a burrow and would venture out then scoot back all the while in thick cover. We decided to let it be and would hit it again when we passed back later. Things continued to be pretty quiet with just common species until we stopped at a creek crossing up near Orford and played a quick Masked Owl call which had an immediate call back with a lovely pale male circling round before perching very high above us. I jogged…. ok I waddled up the road to see if I could encourage it to move to a nicer perch and we noticed in the moonlight that it was followed by a very silent and beautiful honey coloured female who just regarded us from a distance silhouetted in the moonlight. Beautiful!

Spot the Masked Owl

Moving back towards Hobart we stopped at another creek crossing and got out for a poke around. I thermaled a few roosting birds including a nice male Scarlet Robin with the full moon making it almost like twilight. I saw a shadow of a bird pass over my head and swung the headlight around a bit wildly but could not find the bird. Eventually I looked straight up and there was a beautiful dark female Masked Owl looking at me curiously. A bit of a panic as I grabbed my camera from the car but she didn’t go too far and posed for a few nice pics. One of the nicest birds I have ever seen. We were absolutely stoked and realised there was only one thing left to do – get Rohan that Long-tailed mouse. Drove back to the “site” and immediately found it again on thermal but again was proving cryptic. I walked away and left Rohan to it and eventually he was able to get decent enough views to confirm what we already strongly suspected – it was a Long-tailed Mouse! We cruised back to the accom considering this a very successful nights work.

I think I am in love

Up not too early we heading down the Tasman Peninsula stopping at the Dunnalley bakery for breakfast and coffee. Our targets were Buff-banded Rail and BT Native-hen which might not seem much to a mainlander but are Tassie megas. They were both at the Port Arthur lavender farm which was not yet open and after poking around the edges we poked in the car park and had both in about 30 seconds. Job done – how easy is that? From here we cruised down to the heath near the Remarkable Caves to look for Striated Fieldwren – it was a glorious morning with wall to wall blue sky and albatross cruising just offshore. Very birdy with lots of honeyeaters, we eventually found a pair of the Fieldwren about a kilometer in – LGA ticking FTW.

Tassie goes alright

Now it was time to get ready for the main event – Peter and Andi’s wedding – so we scooted back to the accom with only a little birding on the way. After attempting to scrub up a little we arrived at the wedding which was a fantastic affair. I definitely did not shed a tear. Was great to share in the special day and to catch up with good friends. We even managed some cheeky spotlighting at the end of the night without success.

Wedding of the century

Up at stupid o’clock the next morning I dropped Rohan at the airport before heading back down to Eaglehawk Neck for the post wedding pelagic. We were under strict instructions from the groom to have a good day but not a great day – and so it proved. Was really good to be out on the water again on a very pleasant day. Birds were great with highlights including Blue Petrels, Southern Fulmars, many dozens of White-headed Petrels and a few Soft-plumaged Petrels as well as over a dozen various Wandering type albatross. The best part however was catching up with people. I was pretty tired as I got onto the plane home a little over 48 hours after arriving – a very productive couple of days.

My first Souther Fulmar from a boat

Plue Betrel

Some recent action

Posted on December 18, 2020 by CorwinCaelin

Like the rest of Melbourne I went through 100+ days of lockdown – stuck working from home and in my 5km radius. I am fortunate to have a job that can be done from home but I definitely miss the office. To keep sane during this time myself and a number of other birders had a bit of a competition to see how many species of birds we could find in that 5km radius. This meant scouring google maps for every little remnant of bush and wetland and I was pretty happy with the 120 odd species I found during the lockdown. While I didn’t win the bird competition I probably did see the most snakes with plenty of Lowland Copperheads out and about. Highlights would have to be the Wandering Whistling-ducks that turned up at Dandenong Valley Wetlands about 4700 meters from home as the duck flies and a number of Swift Parrots in the Springvale cemetery. I also tried my hand at a bit of urban spotlighting in remnant habitat along Dandenong Creek which was a bit of fun. Highlight here were the good numbers of frogs (7 species) – I was somewhat surprised to find Peron’s Tree Frogs and I wonder if they are naturally occurring or have moved in perhaps in firewood or garden supplies.

Wandering Whistling-duck – a very rare Victorian visitor

Lowland Copperhead

Peron’s Tree Frog

Following Dan relaxing the “Ring of Steel” around Melbourne, Rohan and I were straight in the car heading east past Orbost looking for Long-footed Potoroo and other cool things. We spent three nights in the area between Cape Conran and Cann River, much of which had been extensively burnt in last Summer’s fires. In some areas the damage was limited and was already recovering well but in others it was a holocaust with ridge after ridge of trees killed and almost no regrowth noticable. On the first night of spotlighting we drove a long way using thermal camera with a few stops along the way. While we didn’t detect our main target we did find a couple of Sooty Owls in fire affected areas which was a positive sign. During the day we birded around Cape Conran, Marlo and Cabbage Tree with some nice birds like Turquoise Parrot, Sanderling and Wedge-tailed Shearwater recorded. The sweeping fields of post fire grass-tree spikes around Conran were particularly impressive.

Sooty Owl

A sea of Xanthorrhoea

For the next two nights we narrowed the search and did twice get a probable potoroo on thermal but could not get a sighting which was frustrating. Still over the 3 nights we did get good numbers of Eastern Pygmy-possums and a surprise roosting Painted Button-quail as well as many other cool mammals and frogs. By the end of the third night we were pretty tired but had to get up early to head home, detouring via Lake Tyers and Macleod Morass. We still clocked up 150+ species of bird and a good mammal list and it was really cathartic to be out of lockdown and back into some real nature. While the aftermath of the fire was pretty distressing in places in others the recovery would suggest some good hope for the future.

Good to have a beer from a tap again

iPhone Painted Button-quail

iPhone Eastern Pygmy-possum

More recently I had an invite to go on a Plains-Wanderer weekend led by Phil Maher with Matt Crawford and Michael Ramsey. I had some family commitments so could only leave after lunch on the Saturday and was rolling into Deniliquin a bit after 4pm. It was a very hot 42 degrees on arrival with a strong wind. After a quick beer at the pub we piled into a couple of 4wd’s and went birding. We stopped at a wetland which was packed with birds and 63 species seen. Later on dusk we arrived at the farm we would be spotlighting at and relaxed with a beer and some snacks. While poking around I was happy to find my first Curl Snake. What followed was one of the best nights of spotlighting I have had in a while. We found 3 male Plains-wanderers and two of them both had two tiny chicks which were very cute. In addition I ended up with three new reptiles – the Curl Snake, Eastern Hooded Scaly-foot and Tessellated Gecko as well as loose change like Little Button-quail and a number of Fat-tailed Dunnarts. All in all a very enjoyable evening and I would highly recommend getting on one of Phil’s tours. I had to leave pretty early the next day and I was back in Melbourne about 26 hours after leaving!

Endangered male Plains-wanderer with chicks

Hooded Scaly-foot

Tessellated Gecko

Curl Snake

Record of Leadbeater’s Possum in Bunyip State Park

Posted on July 27, 2020 by CorwinCaelin

Introduction

The observations were made in the Eastern part of Bunyip State Park in an area of regrowth Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) that burnt in Black Saturday in 2009. The site is about 250m above sea level and in the Lawson Creek catchment which eventually flows into Westernport Bay via the Bunyip River.

Bunyip State Park covers 16,600 hectares of various types of wet forest and heathland in the southern fall of the Great Dividing Range about 65km east of Melbourne. It contains a variety of forest types with the Mountain Ash forest largely confined to slopes in the north of the Park. Large parts of the east of the park burnt extensively in 2009 with much of the remainder burning in 2019. The burnt Mountain Ash habitat in the eastern of the park is similar to habitat where Leadbeater’s possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) occurs elsewhere with dead trees and an understory containing various wattle species. While not specifically targeting Leadbeater’s Possum at this site in May 2020 a brief stop did result in a good sighting with Scott Baker and Jim Wright.

Leadbeater’s Possum – Bunyip State Park

Observations

On the 15th of May 2020 Scott Baker, Jim Wright and myself (Tim Bawden) headed into the southern part of Tarago State Forest near Jindivick spotlighting in particular targeting Leadbeater’s Possum and large forest owls. The night was particularly successful with Leadbeater’s Possum found in the very south of Tarago State Forest (these records are some of the southernmost since rediscovery in 1961) and Sooty Owls observed along the Tarago River. Later in the evening the group decided to head home through the eastern edge of Bunyip State Park down Forest Road and stopped to check out the range-limited locally endemic Gully Grevillea (Grevillea barklyana). To our surprise we spotted a Leadbeater’s Possum in the very tree we were looking at. Upon leaving the car we pished and were able to call the animal back close enough for photos – another animal was observed close by and was heard drumming. The diagnostic shape and behaviour on both animals leaping through the understory was very evident. There was significant movement on the other side of the road which may have indicated a third animal but this was not confirmed. After a couple of minutes of spotlit observation we left the animals alone and tried two more sites further down with out success. Conditions were a very crisp, still and clear night with no risen moon and a temperature around 3 degrees C. Needless to say I was a little excited as I had tried for a while for this species in Bunyip SP.

Leadbeater’s Possum – Bunyip State Park

I was keen to return so a week later I headed back with Rohan Clarke and Scott Baker on the 23rd of May 2020. Unfortunately this night conditions were not ideal with constant drizzle and a SE-E wind and ~20kph winds with a temperature around 8 degrees C – there was no risen moon but would have been irrelevant with total cloud cover and fog throughout. Still we persisted and with a combination of pishing and Rohan’s thermal scope were able to locate a Leadbeater’s Possum approximately 200 meters south of the last sighting in Acacia dealbata. The animal was skittish perhaps due to the conditions but Scott was able to secure a diagnostic photograph. Other sites above and below this one were unsuccessful but conditions were definitely not conducive. Eventually we had to admit defeat and move to more sheltered areas.

Leadbeater’s Possum record shot – Scott Baker

On the 13th of June 2020 I returned with my son Lucas and we managed an hour of spotlighting in the area without success before gale-force winds moved us on. On the 19th of June 2020 Isaac Clarey and I had completed a loop through Tarago State Forest (LBP at 2 sites in State Forest) and spent 2 hours working Forest Road inside Bunyip State Park after midnight without success. Unfortunately Covid-19 has at this stage prevented further visits to the area.

Over the past 5 years I have driven this road many times at night and have stopped regularly to play owl calls without observing anything unusual.

Habitat

Habitat near the site showing fire killed Eucalytpus regnans – notice the uniform relatively small size of these stags

The area the Bunyip SP sightings occurred in was a small tongue of Mountain Ash in the Lawson Creek catchment that had burnt heavily in Black Saturday in 2009. It appears that this gully may have been logged before declaration of Bunyip State Park with none of the fire killed trees particularly large. No real evidence of large stags visible from the road during daylight visits. The fire appears to be have burnt hot enough to induce stand replacement in the Mountain Ash with many young ~10 year old trees coming through. Interestingly above the road line in the sighting location the forest changes to more stringybark types including Eucalyptus obliqua and Eucalyptus sieberi typical of many other slopes in Bunyip SP. There is a thick understory with abundant Acacia dealbata and Acacia obliquinervia with the odd Acacia melanoxylon and of course the Grevillea barklyana in which the first animal was spotted. The makeup of the understory is very similar to many other locations where I have observed Leadbeater’s Possum previously. Daylight observations of the forest area did not find any obvious denning locations with no large stags located – it is possible that the fire killed trees from 2009 are now cracking enough to provide some cover or there were other undiscovered options.

Typical understory in the area

Other nocturnal mammals seen in the immediate area during recent observations include Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps), Bobuck (Trichosurus cunninghami), Feather-tailed Glider (Acrobates sp) and Common Ring-tailed Possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus). Nocturnal birds noted were Australian Owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus) and Australian Boobook (Ninox boobook)- it is noteworthy that in ~10+ nocturnal visits to this area over the past 5 years I have not not located any large forest owls with playback in this area of burnt forest despite them being relatively common nearby. Diurnal birds in the area are typical of similar wet forest areas in the region with notable species including Pilotbird (Pycnoptilus floccosus), Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae), Brown Gerygone (Gerygone mouki), Rose Robin (Petroica rosea) and Lewin’s Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii).

One of the largest of the regenerating Mountain Ash in the immediate area

Significance

The Leadbeater’s Possum is a Critically Endangered possum species restricted to the Central Highlands around Melbourne and is Victoria’s fauna state emblem. It was discovered in 1867 and was only known from five specimens with the last one collected in 1909 and was considered likely extinct as most of the original lowland swamp habitat was drained and cleared for agriculture. In 1961 it was rediscovered by Eric Wilkinson in Ash forests near Cambarville. It has since been found to inhabit an area of perhaps 70 by 80 km from Toolangi in the west, Rubicon in the north, Baw Baw in the east and Tarago in the south – see interactive map. The majority of these records are in ash or snow gum forest with only one small isolated lowland population known at Yellingbo. There are few records in the Westernport Bay catchment since 1961.

In Bunyip State Park itself there are perhaps two previous records of Leadbeater’s Possum. The first by Richard Loyn and Ed McNabb occurred in 1981 on the southern slopes of Mount Beenak in an area on the very edge of the current day park in what was then Gembrook State Forest at an altitude of about 600m. I have searched this area over past few years without result. There is a second record from the 1990’s in the Blue Range on the very northern edge of Bunyip SP (ALA) but it is unclear if this was inside the park boundary – this area contains a lot of regrowth Ash forest and would be worth further investigation. The current observations are approximately 8km ESE of these and are well with the current park boundaries. Probably the closest sightings are the recent ones in the southern portion of Tarago State Forest – before these the species was not well known south of the Tarago River. It is interesting to consider if these recent sightings have moved in following regrowth and opportunity following the Black Saturday fires or have always been in the area. Further searching in the immediate catchment area and other parts of the Bunyip catchment would be worthwhile, particularly in lowland areas which are not dissimilar to the Yellingbo habitat. At this stage Covid restrictions prevent further investigation.

Leadbeater’s Possum from nearby Tarago State Forest – note white tail tip

References

“Atlas of Living Australia – Open Access to Australia’s Biodiversity Data.” Atlas of Living Australia, http://ala.org.au.
“Leadbeater’s Possum Interactive Map.” Leadbeater’s Possum Interactive Map, http://lbp.cerdi.edu.au/possum_map.php.
Lindenmayer, David, et al. Mountain Ash. CSIRO PUBLISHING, 2015.
Loyn, Richard, and E. G. McNabb. “Discovery of Leadbeater’s Possum in Gembrook State Forest.” Victorian Naturalist Vol 99, 1982.
Menkhorst, Peter, and Frank Knight. Field Guide to Mammals of Australia. OUP Australia & New Zealand, 2010.

Masked Owl is best owl

Posted on March 29, 2017 by CorwinCaelin

I have been terrible at blog posts this year. Every time I get started on a post I get distracted and never get back to it. And it is not for lack of good material! This year I have had some great experiences including Shepherd’s Beaked Whale, Eastern Quolls and more than my fair share of owls. So in the interest of getting back into the blogging business for 2017 I will start with a few Masked Owl seen in East Gippsland during January. As is my want during the Christmas break I had headed down to the Marlo area for a spot of owling with Jono Dashper and Owen Lishmund. During the daylight hours we had some pretty good birding with species like Ground Parrot at Marlo and Conran, scads of Emu-wrens, Wedge-tailed Shearwaters off the Cape and the usual suite of wet forest specialists. I particularly like heading east and encountering Black-faced Monarchs in every gully because to me they hint at a more tropical flavour further north – one of my favourite birds and we saw and heard plenty on this trip.

Eventually we found our way to my favourite owling site near Conran where yet again the Crescent Honeyeaters “egypted” on dusk before the White-throated Nightjars fired up. A Masked Owl screamed but it was soon drowned out by a lovely pair of Sooty Owl trilling which gave good if distant views. Something rather special about seeing two Sooties in the one binocular view in the fading light…. We potted around the area finding a number of frogs including some nice Paracrinia haswelli before heading further afield. Ducking down some dirt tracks we found a nice open area of heathland where right on midnight we had a rather lovely Masked Owl come and visit, cackling around our heads like a demented seagull. This was a lovely pale bird which looked like a ghost hovering well above us at the limit of the torch beam. It did not perch but was a nice lifer for Jono and Owen. Further up the track we encountered another individual which gave us great views as it perched reasonably close by.

Masked Owl

We continued on and somewhere well north of Bemm River we encountered a third Masked Owl. This individual is not done justice my bad pictures but in the binocular view had a gorgeous grey tone on its facial disk like no other I had seen before. Unfortunately it did not get close enough for good pics but I will be back. Sooty Owls and Yellow-bellied Gliders at Cabbage Tree and a fat Long-nosed Bandicoot rounded out an excellent night.

Masked Owl

A night out in the Watagans

Posted on December 30, 2016 by CorwinCaelin

With the year winding down we headed to Newcastle for Christmas with my brother in-law and his family. We left on the afternoon of the 23rd spending the night in Cootamundra although the wattles weren’t flowering. The highlight of the trip up was good numbers of Superb Parrot from Cootamundra through to past Yass. In Newcastle we stayed at Warabrook backing on to a nice wetland which was quiet but has excellent potential. After a good Christmas day I had a leave pass for a night out spotlighting so I chose the Watagans inland from Newcastle. My main hope was to see a Parma Wallaby which is an elusive macropod endemic to New South Wales and the Watagans are the most southerly location they are found so that was the cornerstone for the evening.

I did not really know what to expect aside from the fact that there were a few atlas records of Parma Wallaby on the southern end of the Watagans Forest Road so I decided to spotlight this road. Arrived about an hour before dusk so drove slowly along the road looking for likely gullies and clearings. On dusk I spent some time at the Hunter Lookout which is good for Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby but I had no luck. Driving south along the road a Southern Long-nosed Bandicoot was a good start. At the second stop a Sooty Owl called continually with both bomb and trill calls. Here I met the first of three different groups out herping for the night – something the Watagans is famous for.

Moving along I saw plenty of macropods but all seemed to be pademelon or red-necked wallaby. Soon i managed to stir up a number of Yellow-bellied Gliders while getting average views of two Sooty Owls. The Sooties were very vocal but were not much more than eyeshine in the distance. Still it meant that I had seen Sooty Owl every month for 2016. Yellow-bellied Glider is also a threatened species in NSW so good to see (and hear). It was already starting to get late when I almost drove over a snake on the road. Getting out I found a very nice elapid – a Golden-crowned Snake. This was new for me and it was quite chilled. Eventually near the headquarters I saw what might have been my target but views were too poor and no photo taken. I will need to go back to the Watagans – great are and much more to see. The highlight for the rest of the trip was a new mammal for the yearlist – Indo-pacific Bottlenosed Dolphin in Newcastle harbour. Already planning a trip next year to get the Parma!

Golden-crowned Snake

Tasmanian Boobook (Morepork) in Victoria

Posted on October 16, 2016 by CorwinCaelin

For many years it has been suspected that some birds of the Tasmanian race leucopsis of boobook type owl migrated to Victoria over winter. This member of the boobook clan tends to differ from their mainland counterparts by being smaller, darker with more speckling on back and crown, spotted underparts rather than streaked and most noticeably have fantastic “phonebook” yellow irises as opposed to the dull yellow to olive of mainland birds. Over the years there have been good numbers of dead birds and the odd live bird including Cape Bridgewater in 1993 and Hamilton 2013 which were seen by a number of people but there has never been any definitive evidence if this being more than aberrant birds making their way across the strait. Twice I have found beachcast boobooks at Wilsons Prom but at the time did not think much of it so did not collect or otherwise document the specimens. Local commentary from Tasmanian birders indicate that boobook types remain throughout the winter so at best a subset would migrate. Indeed I have seen (and heard) boobook types on territory in Tasmania a number of times during July through September over the years. To add some grist the mill, the IOC taxonomy (used by most Australian birders) split leucopsis from the mainland Boobook types and placed it with the New Zealand species – Ninox novaeseelandiae – which of course has made it of increased interest to birders. In Tasmania the Boobook type is capricious – often heard but less often seen – I have most often seen it on the road or roadside perch while driving or more commonly have heard it calling in the area. It was not until October 2015 when Andrew Franks posted a series of pictures taken after dark at the Cape Liptrap lighthouse of good numbers of Tasmanian Boobook that it was realised there was a significant number of birds staging for return at this location. This means that the odd birds recorded over previous years were not vagrant or aberrant but but part of a larger cohort migrating across Bass Strait.

Tassie Boobook at Cape Liptrap from 2015 – note the vibrant yellow iris

Morepork at Cape Liptrap from 2015

The moment I saw Andrew Frank’s photographs in 2015 I arranged to go down with Paul Dodd and Ruth Woodrow where we were rewarded with at least 8 birds in the immediate area of the Cape Liptrap lighthouse which allowed close approach – I honestly believe I could have touched a bird if I had tried. The birds were largely silent but interestingly we did hear a couple of calls but I could not comment on the difference to standard Southern Boobook calls. The number of predatory birds in such a small area could not be sustained and within a week or two they were gone having answered a few questions but leaving a number more. Earlier this year Rohan Clarke and I were wandering around the Central Highlands near Marysville when we rumbled a Tasmanian Boobook on the road which provided a rare inland record of this bird. Over the past few months I have been increasingly looking forward to getting back down to Cape Liptrap in October to see if the congregation is indeed an annual event.

Tasmanian Boobook near Cambarville in May 2016

On the 14th of October Jeff Davies picked up Scott Baker and I and we headed down to Cape Liptrap with high expectations. A near full moon lit the sky as we arrived after dodging wombats, wallabies and a whole crew of fox kits on the road in. We were a full week earlier than my visit last year and I was a bit worried we would be early but within 60 seconds of leaving the carpark we saw our first Morepork type owl in the distance which was the first of many. The owls this year were much more skittish which we put down to the full moon or the fact we were a week earlier and they had not settled. In the two and a half hours we were there we estimated at least 8 owls but there may well have been more. It was great to confirm that last years records were not a once off and again this is supporting evidence that reasonable numbers of these birds migrate to the mainland every year. Eventually we managed a few record shots before jumping in the car and heading home. During the night Jeff had heard a bird call and Scott and I had seen birds huting insects. The next part of this puzzle will be to check other likely headlands at this time of year and see if there is a similar congregation of tasmanian boobook types. If anyone has any comment on the topic – anecdotal or otherwise I would be keen to hear.

Tasmanian Boobook – Cape Liptrap 2016 – harder to approach than last year

Some July pelagic and Sooty Owl action

Posted on August 1, 2016 by CorwinCaelin

This is mostly to share a few pics and experiences from a couple of outings through July which didn’t quite translate into their own posts. I started with my second trip down to Tasmania for another pelagic weekend with an extra night tacked on for some spotlighting and then followed up with a few nights out in Bunyip State Park (for a change). I headed down to Tasmania early in July a day early with intention of exploring around Mt Field for quolls and perhaps the outside chance of a devil. As we flew into Hobart I started to question my decision as it was one of the more rough flights I have had in a while and as we came in I could see the tops of the sea being blown away in the high winds. Still upon landing I picked up a car and headed out to Mt Field and my nearby AirBnB accommodation choice. I stopped in and bought a 24 hour pass only to be told after the purchase that the park was closed past the entrance area due to weather conditions – pretty typical Tassie tourist experience really…. Still my first AirBnB experience was great as I dumped my stuff in a real traditional BnB before heading out for a long nights spotlighting. As I headed out on dusk I saw my first Eastern-barred Bandicoot which I thought was a good sign but then the rain started to set in. The area around the entrance to Mt Field is generally considered good for Eastern Quoll but I had no luck despite a number of hours searching at various times of the night. There were lots of large standing areas of water which I began to notice had started to move – the river had broken its banks so I had to retreat. I spent another couple of hours driving out towards Lake Pedder and again back the other way but after my second encounter with the local constabulary I was advised to go to bed due to various landslides and water over the road events. During the couple of hours of driving around I saw nothing more exciting than numerous pademelons and Bennett’s wallabies.

A bit of water at Mt Field

The next morning Mt Field was now completely closed so I drove out to Lake Pedder for a bit of tourist action at the dam wall. I was quite shocked to see how extensively areas of swamp and buttongrass had been burnt in recent fires. Eventually I headed back to Hobart to pick up Dean and Rohan for the weekend pelagic action. On the way down to Eaglehawk Neck we did a bit of spotlighting along some side roads before dropping off bags and heading down to Fortescue Bay. On this occasion we saw little aside from the usual pademelons and brushtails and heard only a distant Morepork or two. Still we were back at a decent hour for the pelagic the next day. Unfortunately I had not had the requisite steak and beer before the pelagic so the auguries were not good for the following day.

Kelp Gull

We headed out from Eaglehawk Neck on the Pauletta heading past the Hippolytes where both Fur-seals were seen. It was a pretty good day really with highlights including a young Salvin’s Albatross, Grey Petrel, Soft-plumaged, Grey and White-headed Petrels and both Antarctic and Slender-billed Prions. Great albatrosses were only a few Southern Royals and a single Gibson’s type Wanderer. A good haul but nothing compared to the excellent pelagics of the proceeding few months out of Eaglehawk Neck. Still it was a very good day at sea and a couple of Humpback Whales rounded out the list – I think we are sometimes spoilt from this port.

Grey Petrel

Gibson’s Albatross

Salvin’s Albatross

After the pelagic we had a quick wind down and a pot of Cascade and headed to the famous tree at Port Arthur to see if the Masked Owls were around but tonight they were either having a lie-in or residing elsewhere. After a local pub meal Rohan and I headed out to Lime Bay Conservation area where we rumbled a couple of Long-nosed Potoroo. The target here was Masked Owl and we had an immediate strong call response then nothing…. seems to be quite typical behaviour in Tasmania in our limited experience. We added a nice Southern Brown Bandicoot to the trip list before again heading into bed at a reasonable hour – we must be getting old. Still we were back down at the dock early for another pelagic on the Pauletta with the conditions quite benign as we headed out followed by a horde of hungry gulls. This day was much quieter than the previous with highlights being the good numbers of White-headed Petrel and a nominate Great-winged Petrel among the recently split Grey-faced Petrels. Tried not to be too disappointed as we headed back in as there will always be next time!

Cape Petrel

Northern Giant-petrel

White-headed Petrel

Rohan and I are having a very non-competitive mammal year so we decided to head out to Gravelly Ridge Conservation Area to look for Eastern Bettongs before our flights home. This looks quite a good block of dry type woodland as we arrived on dusk into a horde of pademelons and wallabies. As we setup camera gear on dusk I waddled away from the car while scoffing dinner and almost immediately rumbled a bettong which I figured was a good sign. This was not quite the case as over the next hour or two we had only average views of a couple of further animals as we drive around. Still this area needs further investigation with more time! Alas around this time a tragic event occurred….. a European Hare skipped majestically across the road slaying Rohan’s bogey for the year – I was looking forward to him having to go spotlighting around the WTP to catch it up. A quick zip back to the airport only to be told our flights were inevitably delayed. While the weekend was slightly disappointing we still had a great time and saw plenty of good things.

Southern Royal Albatross

Following the return from Tassie I headed out to Bunyip State Park for a change. The first visit was with Jonathan Newman, a British birder who is north of 7500 world species. After a couple of hours of silence and worsening weather conditions we managed to nail a nice Sooty Owl which flew in for a few photos and ended up giving walk away views. The following weekend I headed back on my own to an area I suspected Sooty Owls might be nesting and kicked back with a beer and a burger in the half hour leading up to dusk. Well before dusk two owls screamed and then bombed from what I think were separate hollows in an area of tall manna gums. On dark they popped out of the hollows and then spent the next hour in a trill duet which rivals any electronic synth pop band – some one should sample that shit! At one stage a male Powerful Owl called reasonably nearby which shut them up for a minute or so until they started up again. I eventually drove away with them still trilling and found another couple of owls including one in a completely new area. Clearly a good time of year to be out and listening!

Sooty Owl – Bunyip State Park